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COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation. PhD. (Chemistry)/ M.Sc. (Physics)/ M.A. (Philosophy)/M.Com. (Finance) etc. [Unpublished]: University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from: https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Index?site_name=Research%20Output (Accessed: Date). NEWS MEDIA CONSUMPTION IN A WHITE URBAN INFORMAL SETTLEMENT: THE CASE OF PANGO CAMP by Suzette Lucia Leal MA DISSERTATION submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS in COMMUNICATION THEORY in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES at the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG SUPERVISOR: Professor K. M. Burger Submission date: December, 2017 1 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the following people: 1) Professor Mariekie Burger, my supervisor, for going above and beyond to assist, guide and advise me in every aspect of this study. Her passion for the field of communications and her students reflects in everything she does. Without her commitment, patience, knowledge, helpful and warm nature, none of this would be possible. 2) The Pango Camp community, Hugo and the late Irene van Niekerk, for welcoming me into their homes and hearts. 3) My mother, Zephne Botha, for instilling in me the importance of an education and a hunger for knowledge. 4) My husband, Greg Leal, for believing in and supporting me every step of the way – for being a true partner and my very best friend. And for looking after our amazing baby Mirabelle with such love and devotion. 3 Abstract Urban informal settlements are commonplace in the South African landscape. In fact, just under ten percent of the South African population lives in informal settlements. This does not suggest, however, that much is understood about individuals residing in these communities. One aspect of their lives that has received minimal attention in the form of empirical research is their news media consumption – this includes their own interpretation of what constitutes news, their reasons for engaging with or disengaging from news media, and how they interpret their own news media consumption habits. This study explored the news media consumption of residents of Pango Camp to gain insight into their understanding of news and their preferred news media sources, as well as the reasons for their selection of news media. Through in-depth interviews, it was found that the Pango Camp participants demonstrate a unique differentiation between “inside news” (what happens in Pango Camp) and “outside news” (anything that occurs outside of the immediate Pango Camp boundaries). Most participants indicated a strong and overwhelming preference for inside news. This raises the question whether traditional or conventional news values can be applied to marginalised communities. Although participants of this study prefer news within close, and almost immediate, proximity, they appear to have constant access to a myriad of news media sources such as newspapers, paid-for television channels, radio and the internet that can provide them with valuable information about the outside. The internet and social media are so readily available that Facebook was cited by most participants as their preferred source of outside news, while television and radio were mostly used for entertainment. Not only was Facebook used as a source of information relevant to participants, it was also frequently used as a platform to voice and express their opinions and to ask for help. This calls into question the understanding that people affected by income poverty most often also suffer from information and voice poverty. Even though this study provides rich insight into the news media consumption of a community living in an urban informal settlement, its findings cannot be generalised 4 to other communities in such conditions. In fact, the main limitation of the study is that its findings cannot be assumed to apply to other urban informal settlements, and it is therefore recommended that they be tested through quantitative studies to ascertain their applicability to other communities living in informal urban settlements. 5 CONTENTS AFFIDAVIT .............................................................................................................................. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... 3 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. 4 PANGO CAMP TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 10 1.1 CONTEXTUALISATION ..................................................................................................... 10 1.2 PANGO CAMP ................................................................................................................ 12 1.3 RESEARCH PROBLEM ..................................................................................................... 14 1.4 RESEARCH APPROACH ................................................................................................... 15 1.5 CHAPTER OUTLINE ......................................................................................................... 15 1.6 KEY TERMS ................................................................................................................... 16 1.6.1 Poverty ................................................................................................................. 16 1.6.2 Media consumption .............................................................................................. 16 1.6.3 News ..................................................................................................................... 16 1.6.4 News consumption ............................................................................................... 17 1.6.5 News media consumption .................................................................................... 17 1.6.6 Digital divide ......................................................................................................... 17 1.6.7 Information poverty ............................................................................................... 18 1.6.8 Voice poverty ........................................................................................................ 18 1.7 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 2: POVERTY, NEWS AND THE MASS MEDIA ................................................. 19 2.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 19 2.2 POVERTY ...................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 19 2.2.2 Poverty is multidimensional .................................................................................. 19 2.2.3 Poverty and formal education ............................................................................... 21 2.2.4 Poverty, unemployment and daily life routine ....................................................... 22 2.3 ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND ACCESS TO PLATFORMS TO VOICE OPINIONS .................... 23 2.3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2 Access to information and information poverty ..................................................... 24 2.3.3 Voicing views publicly and voice poverty .............................................................. 25 2.3.4 Access and the digital divide ................................................................................ 27 2.4 POVERTY AND NEWS MEDIA CONSUMPTION ..................................................................... 34 2.4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 34 2.4.2 News and news values ......................................................................................... 34 2.4.3 Reasons for news media consumption: the uses and gratifications theory .......... 39 2.4.4 The media, news, and the poor: relatability, representation, and media preferences .................................................................................................................... 43 2.4.4.1 Poverty and relating to media content ........................................................... 43 2.4.4.2 Representation: negative and stereotypical media portrayal of poverty ........ 45 2.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................